Tinker AFB, Oklahoma, Feb. 07, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --
Small businesses capable of paving roads need to declare interest in a gigantic opportunity from the US Air Force. A ten-year contract may become available to pave the airfield and roadways at Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma. Specifically, the Air Force is reserving this contract for a business registered as a disadvantaged business or 8A small business. The deadline to submit business information is March 5, 2018.
Statement of Work
“In general, contractors would be expected to accomplish a wide variety of tasks in the industry trade including, but not limited to: repair and replacement of asphalt and concrete pavements and associated items such as pavement markings, ADA compliance, and traffic control devices. Specific projects will include requirements for milling, profilograph testing, stringent material properties, and special quality control testing and personnel.”
(Solicitation ID FA8101-18-R-0015)
Set-Aside for 8A Small Business
Let’s define 8A before we go any further which will whittle down the field to only those businesses who are eligible. 8A designation is officially certified by the Small Business Administration. It aims to empower small business entrepreneurs who have experienced hardship due social or economic situations out of their control. Social disadvantage in this case is often due to racial, ethnic or cultural prejudice within the American society. 8A certification is complex and for the strongest offer possible to the SBA, businesses may use third-party registration firms.
If the contract goes to an 8A business, by default it will also be reserved for a small business. A small business in this industry is considered small if their average annual receipts for the last three years total $36.5 million or less. This project, although still under consideration, is estimated to cost at the high-end around $90 million over a ten-year period. Even at the larger end of the small business size standard spectrum ($36.5 million/year), this construction project could be a significant portion of income for any small business paving contractor.
How to Declare Interest
If interest has been peaked, a business should begin assembling their materials which will require a mailing of standard government requests:
1. System for Award Management Registration Basics
2. Declaration of Business size and Certified 8A Status
3. Previously held contracts over the past three years (Must include at least two paving contracts)
4. Capabilities Statement – 3 pages in length
The agency is also interested in understanding how a small business will function with a large job such as this one and would like to know bonding capacity, possible minimum and maximum dollar amounts of an offer and basically if a small business would consider submitting an offer as a prime contractor instead of as a sub-contractor.
To be clear, this notice is in the Sources Sought phase of the procurement process. A request for proposal has not been issued yet. But, if and when that happens, competition can be expected. The agency wants to understand who may submit offers and how much competition to expect. Contracting Officer Brandon Nicholson will accept documents by mail to Tinker AFB or by email to brandon.nicholson.4@us.af.mil. There is plenty of time to get all documents together as the response deadline for this initial phase is March 5, 2018.
The solicitation makes special note of the fact that,
“the contractor shall be expected to …respond to several Request for Proposals (RFP) in a short period of time and manage several construction projects simultaneously.”
This may sound like a tall task for many busy businesses, but fortunately, they do not have to complete the process on their own.
Finding Assistance
US Federal Contractor Registration (USFCR), the world’s largest third-party government registration firm registers companies on their behalf in the government's mandatory System for Award Management. The USFCR team members are experts in the certification process for 8A firms. They also help businesses submit the best possible offers to the government. They have pioneered the Advanced Procurement Portal (APP) which assists users along the entire federal acquisition process. From learning about how to bid, to finding opportunities, to managing the timeline on a specific opportunity such as this one, APP provides it all. Active and historical federal business opportunity information sits in the same place as a list of active federal buyers and vendors. Modifications on a solicitation over time can be sent direct to a user’s inbox. The synthesis of this data paired with easy access will simplify the federal procurement process for businesses who may then dedicate their complete effort toward their performance on the contract instead of the acquisition of it.